Warbirds

A Mustang Gone but Not Forgotten

Time passes quickly and it does not seem that 2 1years have passed since Don Busche and his Mustang were lost at Bendigo, Vic on 15 February 1970.

There have been two other fatal crashes of civil Mustangs in Australia, G-ARKD (previously VH-UWB) on 12 April 1962 at Mt Dandenong, Vic and VH-I VI at Windsor, NSW on 11 June 1973. Neither of these accidents seemed to have the mystique of the Busche accident. Don Busche was a millionaire engineer bachelor and had all the trappings that such a position brings: a Rolls Royce car, a Toorak address and lovely ladies in attendance. His Mustang, VH-DBB, was the first of the type to be added to the register for some years. The aircraft itself was interesting in that it had been illegally operated ‘up country’ before Busche purchased it. It was then restored to mint condition and finished in an all over natural metal finish. Prior to flying the Mustang, Busche owned a Chipmunk, VH-DBS, that was also finished in a similar scheme to that of the Mustang. The Chipmunk still exists.

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